Terms : Hide Images
| 7204132393 | Allusion | an implied or indirect reference ex.) "He was a real Romeo with the ladies." Romeo, the lead character in Shakespeare's play, Romeo and Juliet, is considered to be a true romantic hero, and won over Juliet against her family's wishes. | 0 | |
| 7204134735 | Ambiguity | a word or expression that can be understood in two or more possible ways ex.) "My love is like a red, red rose." | 1 | |
| 7204136602 | Anachronism | a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other ex.) "Brutus: Peace! Count the clock. Cassius: The clock has stricken three." The clock is an anachronism because it was not invented during Shakespeare's time. | 2 | |
| 7204137732 | Analogy | comparison between two things | 3 | |
| 7204137733 | Anapest | a metrical foot consisting of two short syllables followed by one long syllable or of two unstressed syllables followed by one stressed syllable ex.) "Better dwell in the midst of alarms" | 4 | |
| 7204138239 | Anecdote | a usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing, or biographical incident ex.) "What is that? Bells, dogs again! Is it a dream? I sob and cry. See! The door opens, fur-clad men Rush to my rescue; frail am I; Feeble and dying, dazed and glad. There is the pistol where it dropped. "Boys, it was hard — but I'm not mad. . . . Look at the clock — it stopped, it stopped. Carry me out. The heavens smile. See! There's an arch of gold above. Now, let me rest a little while — Looking to God and Love . . .and Love . . ." In this poem, the speaker is freezing in the Arctic and uses anecdotes to tell his story. | 5 | |
| 7204138778 | Antagonist | one that contends with or opposes another ex.) Bob Ewell is an antagonist in "To Kill a Mockingbird." | 6 | |
| 7204138779 | Antecedent | a substantive word, phrase, or clause whose denotation is referred to by a pronoun ex.) The bird ate the fish quickly and immediately it died. | 7 | |
| 7204139498 | Anticlimax | the usually sudden transition in discourse from a significant idea to a trivial or ludicrous idea ex.) Tension builds in a horror movie as a young girl approaches a closed door. There is a scratching sound coming from behind the door. When she opens it, a cat comes out. | 8 | |
| 7204140501 | Anti-hero | protagonist or notable figure who is conspicuously lacking in heroic qualities ex.) Captain Jack Sparrow from "Pirates of the Caribbean" | 9 | |
| 7204140716 | Antithesis | the rhetorical contrast of ideas by means of parallel arrangements of words, clauses, or sentences ex.) "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools." - Martin Luther King, Jr. | 10 | |
| 7204140717 | Aphorism | short saying that expresses a truth in a memorable way ex.) Better safe than sorry. | 11 | |
| 7204141160 | Apostrophe | addressing an imaginary figure ex.) "Is that a dagger I see before me?" | 12 | |
| 7204141502 | Apotheosis | the perfect form or example of something ex.) a song epitomizes how you feel | 13 | |
| 7204141503 | Archetype | the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies ex.) Snow White | 14 | |
| 7204142574 | Aside | an actor's speech heard by the audience but supposedly not by other characters ex.) "Time thou anticipat'st my dread exploits. The flighty purpose never is o'ertook Unless the deed go with it. From this moment The very firstlings of my heart shall be The firstlings of my hand." - Macbeth | 15 | |
| 7235011382 | Assonance | relatively close juxtaposition of similar sounds especially of vowels ex.) rise high in the bright sky | 16 | |
| 7235012358 | Aubade | a song or poem greeting the dawn about two lovers who are separating | 17 | |
| 7235012869 | Ballad | a narrative composition in stanzas ex.) Stagolee was a bad man They go down in a coal mine one night Robbed a coal mine They's gambling down there' | 18 | |
| 7235012870 | Blank Verse | unrhymed verse ex.) Something there is that doesn't love a wall. That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it, And spills the upper boulders in the sun | 19 | |
| 7235013332 | Cacophony | harsh or jarring sound ex.) I detest war because cause of war is always trivial. | 20 | |
| 7235013333 | Carpe Diem | the enjoyment of the pleasures of the moment without concern for the future | 21 | |
| 7235014286 | Catharsis | purification or purgation of the emotions primarily through art ex.) There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There's .1 and .12 and .112 and an infinite collection of others. Of course, there is a bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. A writer we used to like taught us that. There are days, many of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set. I want more numbers than I'm likely to get, and God, I want more numbers for Augustus Waters than he got. But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful. | 22 | |
| 7235014915 | Chiasmus | an inverted relationship between the syntactic elements of parallel phrases ex.) Love as if you would one day hate, and hate as if you would one day love. | 23 | |
| 7235016030 | Colloquial | use of informal words, phrases or even slang in a piece of writing ex.) Busy old fool, unruly Sun | 24 | |
| 7235016031 | Comic Relief | a relief from the emotional tension especially of a drama | 25 | |
| 7235016673 | Conceit | figure of speech where two vastly different objects are likened together with the help of similes or metaphors ex.) you are slow as a snail | 26 | |
| 7235016674 | Connotation | emotional attachment to a word ex.) Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day | 27 | |
| 7235017345 | Consonance | repetitive sounds produced by consonants within a sentence or phrase ex.) Shelley sells shells by the seashore. | 28 | |
| 7235017346 | Conventional Character | a character with traits that are expected and traditional ex.) female wants love | 29 | |
| 7235018445 | Couplet | two successive rhyming lines in a verse and has the same meter to form a complete thought ex.) "At Sestos Hero dwelt; Hero the fair, Whom young Apollo courted for her hair, And offered as a dower his burning throne, Where she should sit for men to gaze upon. The outside of her garments were of lawn, The lining purple silk, with gilt stars drawn;" | 30 | |
| 7235019419 | Denotation | dictionary meanings of a word | 31 | |
| 7273744911 | Denouement | final outcome of the main dramatic complication in a literary work ex.) Romeo and Juliet committed suicide. | 32 | |
| 7273750558 | Deus ex Machina | to solve a seemingly intractable problem in a plot by adding in an unexpected character, object, or situation ex.) Cinderella's fairy godmother | 33 | |
| 7273750559 | Distortion | changing something | 34 | |
| 7273751897 | Enjambment | running over of a sentence from one verse or couplet without stopping or pausing | 35 | |
| 7273751898 | Epigram | a memorable, brief, interesting and surprising satirical statement | 36 | |
| 7273753297 | Epigraph | a poem, quotation or sentence usually placed at beginning of document or simple piece having a few sentences but which belongs to another writer | 37 | |
| 7273753298 | Epiphany | realization, awareness or a feeling of knowledge | 38 | |
| 7273757686 | Epistolary Novel | novel with short series of documents | 39 | |
| 7273757687 | Essay | short writing on a specific topic | 40 | |
| 7273758977 | Euphemism | substitution of a "good" expression for an unpleasant one | 41 | |
| 7273758978 | Euphony | harmonious succession of words or having a pleasing sound ex.) waterfall | 42 | |
| 7273760413 | Farce | type of comedy that makes use of highly exaggerated and funny situations | 43 | |
| 7364061758 | Inversion | normal order of words is reversed in order to achieve a particular effect of emphasis or meter ex.)"Her mother is the lady of the house, And a good lady, and wise and virtuous. I nursed her daughter that you talked withal. I tell you, he that can lay hold of her, Shall have the chinks." | 44 | |
| 7364061759 | Litotes | ironic undestatement ex.) You won't be sorry. | 45 | |
| 7364064401 | Lyric Poem | short poem of song-like quality with only one speaker speaking about his love for this one person | 46 | |
| 7364066449 | Metamorphosis | change of physical form, structure, or substance | 47 | |
| 7364066450 | Metaphor | figure of speech that makes an implicit, implied, or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated ex.)"She's all states, and all princes, I ..." | 48 | |
| 7371192240 | Meter | stressed and unstressed syllabic pattern in a verse or within the lines of a poem ex.) "If music be the food of love, play on; Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting, The appetite may sicken, and so die. That strain again! it had a dying fall: O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound, That breathes upon a bank of violets ..." | 49 | |
| 7364068967 | Synecdoche | literary device in which a part of something represents the whole or it may use a whole to represent a part ex.) "O no! It is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken." | 50 | |
| 7364068968 | Myth | legendary or a traditional story that usually concerns an event, or a hero, with or without using factual or real explanations to explain rites, practices and natural phenomenon ex.) | 51 | |
| 7364072219 | Narrative Poem | a poem that tells a story and has a plot | 52 | |
| 7364072220 | Onomatopoeia | a word that imitates the natural sounds of a thing ex.) Hark, hark! Bow-wow. The watch-dogs bark! Bow-wow. Hark, hark! I hear The strain of strutting chanticleer Cry, 'cock-a-diddle-dow!'" | 53 | |
| 7364074260 | Oxymoron | a figure of speech in which two opposite ideas are joined to create an effect ex.) O loving hate! | 54 | |
| 7364074285 | Parable | a short story typically with a moral lesson at the end | 55 | |
| 7364076754 | Paradox | a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true ex.) "I must be cruel to be kind." | 56 | |
| 7364076755 | Parallelism | use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same ex.) "Good we must love, and must hate ill, For ill is ill, and good good still; But there are things indifferent, Which we may neither hate, nor love, But one, and then another prove, As we shall find our fancy bent." | 57 | |
| 7371057424 | Parody | a literary or musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule ex.) "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips' red; If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun; If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses damasked, red and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks;" | 58 | |
| 7371194440 | Pastoral | a literary work dealing with shepherds or rural life in a usually artificial manner and typically drawing a contrast between the innocence and serenity of the simple life and the misery and corruption of city and especially court life | 59 | |
| 7427077791 | Pathos | appeal to emotions ex.) "He had meant the best in the world, and been treated like a dog—like a very dog. She would be sorry someday—maybe when it was too late. Ah, if he could only die TEMPORARILY!" | 60 | |
| 7427077792 | Periodic Sentence | complex sentence that has no subordinate or trailing elements following its principal clause and understands the meaning at the end of the sentence | 61 | |
| 7427078350 | Personification | figure of speech in which a thing is given human attributes ex.) The wind howled in the night. | 62 | |
| 7427078351 | Point of View | angle of considering things, which shows us the opinion, or feelings of the individuals involved in a situation | 63 | |
| 7427078958 | Protagonist | central character or leading figure | 64 | |
| 7427078959 | Pun | play on words | 65 | |
| 7427079298 | Quatrain | a verse with four lines, or even a full poem containing four lines ex.) He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there's some mistake. The only other sound's the sweep Of easy wind and downy flake. | 66 | |
| 7427079299 | Refrain | reoccurring phrase or verse | 67 | |
| 7427079736 | Repetition | repeats the same words or phrases a few times | 68 | |
| 7427079737 | Rhetorical Question | for effect or to lay emphasis on some point discussed when no real answer is expected ex.) "Are you stupid?" | 69 | |
| 7427080111 | Satire | employed by writers to expose and criticize foolishness and corruption of an individual or a society by using humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule | 70 | |
| 7427080112 | Sestet | stanza of six lines | 71 | |
| 7427080739 | Shift | a change in idea, point of view, etc. | 72 | |
| 7427080595 | Simile | comparison using "like" or "as" | 73 | |
| 7427081269 | Soliloquy | used in drama to reveal the innermost thoughts of a character ex.) "Yet art thou still but Faustus and a man" | 74 | |
| 7427082019 | Stanza | division of four or more lines having a fixed length, meter, or rhyming scheme (poetic paragraph) | 75 | |
| 7502360699 | Structure | the way something is organized ex.) chronologically | 76 | |
| 7502361571 | Style | the way a writer writes | 77 | |
| 7502369772 | Symbol | something that stands for or suggests something else by reason ex.) letter 'A' symbolized adultery in The Scarlet Letter | 78 | |
| 7502371505 | Syntax | a connected or orderly system of words or phrases ex.) "What light from yonder window breaks?" instead of using a common expression "What light breaks from yonder window?" (iambic parameter) | 79 | |
| 7502377494 | Theme | a main idea or an underlying message of the story ex.) Love and friendship in Romeo and Juliet | 80 | |
| 7502378496 | Tone | attitude of a writer toward a subject or an audience through word choice or syntax ex.) "All morons hate it when you call them a moron." (sarcastic) | 81 | |
| 7502382343 | Tongue in Cheek | :characterized by insincerity, irony, or whimsical exaggeration | 82 | |
| 7502385227 | Tragic Flaw | character leading to his downfall | 83 | |
| 7502393928 | Transition/Segue | words and phrases that provide a connection between ideas, sentences and paragraphs making it smooth | 84 |
